


It’s a Guessing Game (aka the stoncy band au)

by falsewings



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Multi, Social Media, rated T for for Thirst Tweets (but actually), tiny mention of Barb/Robin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-27
Updated: 2020-10-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:13:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27218467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falsewings/pseuds/falsewings
Summary: For the Stoncy Discord Server Band AU challenge: "Robin, Nancy, Steve and Jonathan are all in a band together. Their fandom is rabid to know who’s dating who."The Strangest Thing is the hottest band. A story told through social media, fandom, news articles and small moments.
Relationships: Jonathan Byers/Steve Harrington/Nancy Wheeler, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington
Comments: 15
Kudos: 123
Collections: Band AU Challenge, Social Media Fics





	It’s a Guessing Game (aka the stoncy band au)

**Author's Note:**

> The format of the fic and how it was told was inspired by several fics but instead of listing a whole bibliography (especially since only one is for the Stranger Things fandom anyway), I'll list these two:
> 
> 1\. [Tabloid Love Story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15367509) by ungoodpirate (The Raven Cycle fandom)  
> 2\. [Director on the Rise Brings Hometown Horror to Sundance](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20795225) by LeantheBean (Stranger Things)
> 
> At 2700+, this is the longest fic I've written. I still feel like I could of done better but I'm also going to be proud of myself for that

When Nancy steps into the tiny room, Steve is pacing while Jonathan is sitting on a couch, looking at her for help. 

If this were later in the tour, Steve would have been calmer. He and Robin would have been on Instagram live, teasing the fans together and hyping up the opening act. But Steve’s always the most nervous during the first show. Robin is probably hiding somewhere practicing Italian to drown out her nerves. It’s not so much that she’s abandoned Steve as it is that avoiding him is the only way to prevent him from amplifying her own pre-show jitters.

So, with Robin out, it’s up to her and Jonathan to keep Steve steady.

She walks up to Steve and disrupts the pacing with a quick kiss to his cheek. “Sit with me.” She says it like it’s a request except she’s already steering him to the couch next to Jonathan. As soon as he sits, she settles on top of his lap and winds her arms around his shoulders while Jonathan goes to hold one of his hands. She can’t finger comb his hair because hair and makeup would have a fit. So she has to get creative.

“Did I ever tell you about the time my dad tried to give Mike the sex talk?” And then she retells the story with all the gory embarrassing details.

When an assistant eventually comes around to call them to the stage, Steve’s noticeably more relaxed. 

“Thanks Nance,” Steve says softly, kissing her cheek. Then he leans over to kiss Jonathan as well. “Now come on, we’ve got a show to kill.”

  
  
  


The chanting of the audience is deafening by the time Nancy walks out on the stage to her place behind the drums. Jonathan follows her, already carrying his guitar while Robin heads out her keyboard. Finally, Steve steps onto the stage. The crowd seems to become even louder. 

“Hello Atlanta,” he says into the microphone at the center of the stage. “Are you ready to have some fun?”

* * *

_An excerpt of Variety’s review The Strangest Thing’s latest album, ‘Hey Loser, We’re Going Monster Hunting’:_

The Strangest Thing returns with another spirited album packed with their usual playful yet introspective lyrics. Jonathan Byers and Robin Buckley, the band’s main lyricists, outdo themselves, especially on “Always Lookin’ for You”. The not-quite love ballad is full of your classic relationship promises paired with self deprecating humor. But it’s Steve Harrington, the lead vocalist of the band, truly sells the song and makes you believe it’s actually an open love letter to whoever may be listening.

* * *

_via_ **_JByers_ ** _’s instagram timeline_

_Image: Steve, Robin and Nancy sitting casually on the floor. Steve is laying down, resting his head on Robin. He is looking up at the camera, smiling. Nancy is ignoring the camera entirely, choosing instead to laugh at Robin. Robin is giving the camera an exaggerated scowl while flipping the bird._

_Caption:_ We were supposed to be writing

320 likes

Top Comments  
 **NotSteveHarrington:** Believe it or not, people expect to see at least one picture of yourself on your instagram  
 **JByers:** But then I’d have less pictures of you  
 **NotSteveHarrington:** ...okay. Smooth.  
 **BuckItUp:** 💖🖕  
 **JByers:** I love you too Robin

* * *

_via_ **_NotSteveHarrington_ ** _’s instagram timeline_

_Image: Jonathan is sitting in the backseat of a car. His head is lolled off to the side, mouth wide open as he sleeps. In the foreground of the photo, Steve is giving a thumbs as he smiles brightly into the camera._

_Caption:_ Look who I managed to get a photo of!

479 likes

Top Comments  
 **JByers:** You’re the worst.

* * *

**_@TheStrangestStans_ **: presented without comment #TheStrangestThing #stonathon [ Grant Gustin posing next to Oliver Queen's grave meme with the grave labeled "exhausted Jonathan sneaking in a nap" and Grant Gustin labeled "Steve" ]

* * *

_Video Title:_ "Jon & Steve being boyfriends for 12 minutes straight", posted by Stonathan4lyfe

_90K views_

* * *

_An excerpt of Teen Vogue’s article, “Nancy Wheeler on Finding Her Voice”:_

But while Wheeler is now known for her drumming, she actually played a different instrument for most of her childhood. “I started learning the piano when I was eight,” says Nancy, “My parents made all my siblings learn it but I was the only one who continued it into high school. I even took [the Indiana State School Music Association Exams] for piano. And of course, I got graded ‘Outstanding’ every year,” she adds with a boast. “I was too much of a perfectionist not to.” 

So how did Wheeler wind up playing the drums? “I was peer pressured into it,” she jokes. Wheeler had been hanging out with a group of friends that included future bandmates Steve Harrington, Jonathan Byers and Robin Buckley. “Steve and Robin were goofing around while Jonathan played the guitar, when Steve tried to get me to join them. Then Barb,” a childhood friend of Wheeler, “dared me to play the drums. We’ve been friends since we were kids so she knew how to push me out of my comfort zone.” 

“I was awful but it was fun. And that was new to me. When I played the piano, I played all the classics, you know? Mozart, Beethoven, Bach. And there’s nothing wrong with those. Once you’ve played them for years, you even learn to appreciate a piano solo. But the style is very precise. You can add expression and feeling but you don’t really improvise. I was good at it. But I was more interested in being good at the piano than enjoying it.” 

“At first I was shy about [playing the drums]. I had no idea what I was doing with the drums and that embarrassed me. Like I said, I’m a perfectionist. But eventually I just said screw it, and I stopped caring. And it was like everything fell into place.” 

When I ask her to elaborate on that, she pauses to gather her thoughts. “I was always the quiet girl who got good grades but who didn’t stand out much. When I started learning the drums, it was like a switch went off in me. I got to be loud. It made me feel powerful. I didn’t care about fitting in that cookie cutter good girl image. I just wanted to be seen for who I was.”

* * *

_via_ **_NancyWheeler_ ** _’s instagram timeline_

_Image: Nancy is curled up sitting by a fireplace, barefoot and wearing an oversized sweatshirt. She is drinking a mug of tea._

_Caption:_ Enjoying some quiet time. Photo credit: **JByers**

600 likes

Top Comments  
 **NotSteveHarrington:** 😍

* * *

**_@queennancy:_ **So I’m pretty sure Nancy is wearing Jonathan’s jacket. Like, #jancy confirmed [ Two separate photos. The first image is The Strangest Thing at a late night talk show with the image cropped to focus on Jonanthan. The second image is a paparazzi photo of Nancy eating at an outdoors cafe. They are very obviously wearing the same jacket. ]

* * *

“You are way too excited about this Steve.”

“Robin! It’s going to be hilarious, you’ll see.” Robin rolls her eyes but Steve can tell she’s putting on an act. When the band’s agent booked a press appearance with Buzzfeed, he and Robin immediately requested to do a Thirst Tweet segment. Unfortunately, Nancy and Jon refused to join them.

He and Robin sit together on stools against a blue backdrop while the Buzzfeed team prepares for the shoot. Finally, someone hands Steve the comically huge Thirst Tweet branded mug and explains how the shoot will go.

“So we printed out the tweets for Steve on a yellow paper while the tweets for Robin are on a blue paper. Just take turns pulling them out and feel free to read each other’s tweets.”

“Action!”

“Hi, I’m Steve Harrington.”

“And I’m Robin Buckley. We’re from the band The Strangest Thing and we’re here at Buzzfeed to read your thirstiest tweets.”

The obligatory greeting out of the way, Steve goes to pull out a folded blue piece of paper from the cup.

“This is for Robin,” he tells the camera, then he turns to face her. “‘Robin Buckley,’” he reads from the paper, “‘could legit knock me down to the ground and then spit on me and I would say thank you.’”

“What?!” Robin sputters as she starts to laugh. “Holy shit, I don’t even know how to react to that.”

“They’d let you spit on them Robin! And they wouldn’t even be mad about it!”

“That’s so gross though,” she says as she pulls out a yellow folded paper. Then, reading the tweet, she begins to blush. “Oh god, I don’t know if I can read this to you.” 

Which of course, made Steve excited. “This is gonna be great!”

Robin takes a deep breath in an attempt to gather herself, then she says, “‘Can Steve Harrington just bend me over and fuck me already?’” Then as Steve bursts out in a surprised laugh, she adds “‘Like pretty please?’ And then there’s like, several question marks. I think they _really_ want this to happen.”

Steve pulls out another yellow paper and then his face immediately starts to heat up. “‘I just want to lick butter off of Steve Harrington’s naked body.’ Why are all of mine super dirty?” He makes sure to direct that last question into the camera.

“I’m pretty sure you have no one to blame but yourself,” Robin tells him as he goes to pick out a tweet for her this time.

“‘Listen,” Steve says, “‘Robin Buckley is an actual goddamn goddess. Like came down from mount olympus to bless us with her talent and her smile.’”

“Oh, that's so sweet.”

“Wait, I’m not done! ‘I would die for her. Send tweet.’” 

“Thank you,” Robin says into the camera. “I don’t know who wrote this but that really made my day.” Then she starts to read a new tweet that Steve hands her and her face falls. She takes an exeragated pause before saying,“This one just says ‘Robin Buckley sit on my face challenge.’”

Steve cackles at that one. “Oh man, I wish Jon were here. He’d die and then I would die laughing.”

“That’s because you’re awful,” Robin retorts. “Oh I like this one. ‘If I ever slip and fall into a semi-permanent coma, just play a clip of Steve Harrington singing. I swear that man’s voice has healing properties and science needs to study it.’”

“That’s actually really kind, thank you.” 

Robin takes the Thirst Tweet cup from Steve and peers into it. “Oh wow, we’ve still got a few more left to do!”

* * *

_via_ **_BuckItUp_ ** _'s instagram timeline_

_Image: Steve and Robin in a close embrace, wearing corresponding Mr. Right and Mrs. Always Right trucker hats. They both hold up their hands to show off matching spaceship shaped mood rings. In the background, there's a sign reading_ Little Vegas Chapel _._

_Caption:_ Surprise! We eloped! 💒💍

500 likes

Top Comments  
 **buckleysangels:** when you're only 80% sure this is a joke because Robin and Steve are just Like That™  
 **strangerthanyou:** chaos twins

* * *

_ballpit5ever_

the strangest thing is our generation's fleetwood mac not just because of their musical masterpieces but also because they're all secretly dating each other

**78 notes**

* * *

“Ready?”

Steve, sitting on a stool next to the keyboard, nods. “Yeah, you can start.” And so Robin begins to play the intro chords of the song she’s written. She nods at Steve to signal the start of the first verse.

Steve is not the best at sight reading. He’s of course gotten better compared to when they first started the band, when he was still shaky on reading musical notation. But when he first gets a song, he plays a little loose with the timing. So Robin makes sure to follow his lead as she plays the chords. They’ll nail down the exact pacing once they get further along in the songwriting process.

“Hey,” Steve says once they’ve played through the song once, “What do you think if we changed up the melody in the third verse?”

Robin hums, thinking, then says, “I’m not _opposed._ Let’s try it out.” She starts playing the chords of the third verse while Steve sings his idea for the melody variation.

“Yeah, that works,” Robin says as she goes pencil in Steve’s changes on her own copy of the sheet music.

“Are you sure? Because--”

“Steve,” Robin scolds, “Save the self doubt for when we show the song to Nancy and Jonathan. Now let’s run it again a few more times and then we can play around with the harmonies in the chorus.”

* * *

_via_ **_BuckItUp_ ** _'s instagram timeline_

_Image: Close up photo of Robin kissing the cheek of a woman with short red hair. Her face is tagged with an account named_ **JustBarb** _._

_Caption:_ so my girlfriend's pretty cute

650 likes

  
  


Top Comments  
 **strangerthanyou:** omg!! congrats!!!n! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜  
 **ScoopsAway:** wait, so you're not dating steve?????

  
  


* * *

_fuckyeahthestrangestthing_

**literally no one:**

**Robin & Steve: **we took a blood oath of commitment under a full moon and bound our souls together

**Robin & Steve: **but, like, in a platonic way

  
  


_dashcon2020_

god i wish that were me

**1,470 notes**

* * *

**_@RobinMaHart_ **: So steve & robin were NEVER dating. We've been fooled. Bamboozled.

**_@TheStrangestStans_ **: @RobinMaHart *puts on tinfoil hat* however this pretty much confirms #stonanthan 👀

**_@RobinMaHart_ **: @TheStrangestStans [ gif of Morticia Addams sipping tea ]

**_@monster_hunterOT4_ **: @TheStrangestStans @RobinMaHart ...y'all are weird. Like, I don't even know if you're joking or if you're basically larry shippers

**_@TheStrangestStans_ **: @monster_hunterOT4 mind yo business

* * *

_An excerpt of Variety.com’s article “Concert Review: The Strangest Thing takes the Monster Hunt on the Road”:_

In between performing songs from their new album and older fan favorites, lead singer Steve Harrington takes time to adlib and go on lengthy tangents while addressing the audience, sometimes jokingly flirting with the fans at large. While Harrington is, no doubt, a skilled vocalist, what truly makes him stand out among the countless frontman crooners is the natural charm he seems to ooze.

Of course, he’s not alone in this. The other members of The Strangest Things also take time to joke around with the crowd, mostly in the form of ragging on their lead singer. Even the famously laconic guitarist Jonathan Byers will get in some fond teasing at Harrington’s expense. It’s this dynamic that highlights the appeal of a The Strangest Thing concert: it’s a little like listening to a podcast consisting of friends just fooling around. 

* * *

It’s around 3 AM when they finally make it to the hotel. Robin slips off to her own room where Barb is probably already asleep. 

As soon as Nancy unlocks the door to their room, Steve heads straight to the bed and just collapses onto it. Nancy makes a noise of disapproval but doesn’t make any other comment. Normally, Steve does in fact engage in good nightly hygiene habits. However, the Steve who goes on tour is usually too exhausted to be persuaded into showers and teeth brushing. If it weren’t for the make up removal wipes he used on the car ride from the concert, he’d probably sleep with a face full of left over stage makeup.

Jonathan gets no such passes. Nancy brushes past him as he brushes his teeth by the bathroom sink. “Join me in the shower?”

It’s just a quick wash with only a few chaste kisses. They’re both just as exhausted as Steve is. There’s so much that goes into the end of a concert: packing away instruments, checking in with the event staff, doing impromptu meet and greets with the handful of fans that managed to find where and when the band was exiting the concert venue.

Steve stirs as Jonathan and Nancy slip into the bed. He rolls over towards Jonathan and tugs him to his chest. “Missed you,” he mumbles into Jonathan’s neck, still half asleep.

“Sure Steve,” Jonathan says, but he relaxes into the sleepy embrace nonetheless. Tomorrow (or rather, later today), they’re only going to get a few hours to explore the city before they have to travel again. There’s two more stops left on the tour and they’re going to be just as grueling as tonight’s concert was. But right now, Jonathan is surrounded by the two loves of his life and he lets himself focus on that as he begins to fall asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> When it doubt about how to end a story, utilized some book-ends. ;)
> 
> This fic felt rushed in the prose and article aspects but the fandom & instagram posts where my favorite parts. And this is finished! 
> 
> This whole reminded how much I miss going to concerts. Also, I've never done the ISSMA (the Indiana State Music festival/exam I have Nancy mention) but I did take the NYSSMA for piano and apparently the ISSMA is based on that exam. The highest grade you can get is Outstanding (until you get to the upper levels, then it's a letter grade).
> 
> Comments and critiques are very much appreciated.


End file.
